Blizzard says crossplay in Overwatch still needs “a lot of work” to happen

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Overwatch is now available in three major consoles and on the PC, but players can only play with and against others who are in the same platform as theirs. But Blizzard has started to analyze how to change that and enable cross-platform play for the game.

The company said Overwatch for the Nintendo Switch won’t release with this function enabled, but that it’s now “keeping an eye on how cross-play systems and technology develop,” according to a statement sent to Engadget.

Related: Another report suggests that Blizzard is working on Overwatch 2

“We’ve seen how compelling cross-system play can be for our community, and we’re excited about the potential,” the company wrote. “There’s still a lot of work to do on both our side and the platforms’ side to determine whether this is something that makes sense for Overwatch.”

That means it’s still impossible for players to carry their account progress over to another platform. Those playing on the PC, Xbox One, or PlayStation 4 will have to start their Switch Overwatch account from scratch with no cosmetic items and at level one.

This doesn’t seem to be a limitation of any platform’s technology, though. Rocket League and Fortnite already have cross-platform play for all platforms they’re in, which include the Nintendo Switch, PS4, and Xbox.

That means that so far, players on the Switch can only play against one another. That might be good for those who are more competitive about the game, since Overwatch’s performance on the Switch will be slightly worse than it is in every other platform. The game’s frame rate is capped at 30 fps and its best resolution is 900p when in docked mode, which can be a small disadvantage when trying to play competitively.